Frustrated over Troop attendance
I'm an ASM and my troop is struggling with attendance to the events that they plan and we aren't quite sure how to remedy it. For example, the troop PLs planned a camping trip for the weekend after school got out. They wanted to make sure they were organized and ready for the upcoming summer camp as we well be traveling further away this year. As of this morning 4 out of 15 scouts were still committed to camping with 3 boys from one patrol, and my daughter from another. Out of the 4 remaining parents, we decided it was best to cancel as we were planning on splitting the cost of the campsite between who went, and it would have been $40 per person without the cost of food. However, with the cancelation comes the fact that we now have a cancellation fee to put back on the troop or eat the cost, which we have done far too many times already. That's another days problem that we will be addressing in our next parent meeting.
The big issue here is that we are trying to recruit new members, and invite packs to bring their AoLs to camping trips or hikes to complete their requirements, and scouts on our end back out at the last minute, forcing us to show numbers poorly or cancel. My question for other leaders/parents is how can we improve our event retention? My initial thought, at least for camping is to make scouts put $5 in as a non-refundable fee,(would cover any cancelation if it occured) but with it being so low cost, I feel like it still gives them a way out. Any advice would be appreciated.